Varna Monastery is a large preservedearly medieval monastery complex, opened nearVarna, Bulgaria, with the status of a cultural monument of national importance for Bulgaria since 2015.[1]
Varna Monastery, the Royal Monastery of the Holy Mother of God - Varna, dates from the 9th century and probably as theRavna Monastery was burnt by thePechenegs during the invasions of theBulgarian Lands in the 11th century, and according to other sources, it existed until the 18th century or until the beginning of theBulgarian Revival.[2]
Found byKarel Shkorpil in 1921 on theFranga Plateau just above the city itself. Located in the most appropriate location on the plateau with view and water source.
Studied in detail from 1996 until today by students in the specialty "archeology" at theVeliko Tarnovo University, as well as from the UK, Russia, Germany and Italy.
Acathedral church, a chapel tower, a hugescriptorium, a library, a school, a monastic dormitory, a holy shrine were found, and among the finds are an altar table, a blacksmith's workshop and coins – Bulgarian,Raška,Venetian,Byzantine,Ottoman. The buildings are filled with aopus mixtum, which construction equipment is used mainly for representative buildings, for example, theGreat Basilica, Pliska.
In the area of the monastery was found the seal ofBoris I of Bulgaria, two lead seals ofTsarSimeon the Great and the seal of TsarPeter I of Bulgaria.
The Varna Monastery and the Ravna Monastery are considered the most significant literary centers of thePreslav Literary School outside the capitalsPliska andPreslav. The patron of the monastery is theMother of God, who is also the patron saint of the city of Varna.
